Fire and Ice
by Northstar1982
Summary: A woman from the multicellular world is reduced in size and thrust inside Frank. Set during and after Thrax's infection. No flames please and please R&R. This is my first Osmosis Jones fanfic.
1. Chapter one

Okay... First Ozzy fic... Hope you like it. Yes I know the main female character is useless for a while, but give her a break. She's in a bad state. I promise she gets better. Though it does kind of annoy me. I figure out how to change her later, this is mainly a rough draft... sorta... kinda. Let me know what you think. My thanks to Draco for her constructive critiques and suggestions. Expect a lot of spelling errors... I swear I'm 21 and I still can't spell to save my life... lol. Draco was kind enough to spell check and edit some of it for me. I can't spell some words to save my life... Unfortunately our word processor has no spell check. I know ff.net says that this is 'no excuse' but this is my mother's computer so I can't download any programs without her say so and she's not told me I could.  
  
FIRE AND ICE  
  
Blinding pain overwealmed her. Her entire body seized up and became tense. So intense was the pain that she didn't even see the flash of light that evaloped her. She fainted.  
  
She woke up and groaned, holding her head. Instingtively one of her hands went to her abdomen, which had begun to become round. She was with child and it had been a very diffacult pregnancy. The child was half human and the frequant pains she suffered only farther complicated matters.  
  
As she slowly stood up she took closer notice of her surroundings. To her horror she discovered that she was no longer in her liveing room., but a very strange place indeed. There was a snow-like substance on the ground and it looked as though she were standing in a large crater. She started to spread her colorful wings to fly out, but something held her back. She was out in the open here and felt it too dangerous to expose herself to attack like that, so she picked a direction and ran.  
  
It felt like hours before she finally got somewhere that seemed remotely friendly. At this point she figured it was a good idea to wear her black cape and hood. Everyone looked weird, not as strange or nearly as frightening as some she'd seen earlier, but still... Until she learned what was going on it was best not to arouse the locals. She heard something behind her and she turned to look, but as she turned around she forgot to stop walking and her back hit something, tall black, and firm.  
  
"Hey!" a deep voice growled, "Watch it!"  
  
She turned around sharply and found herself face to face with another very strange creature. Obviously male; it had red skin, purple dreadlocks, yellow eyes and what looked like a dark grey turtleneck under his black trenchcoat.  
  
"Ain't cha got nothin' to say baby?" He growled again and held up his left hand, whose forefinger sported a long, dangerous, glowing claw. She gasped and backed away. As a warrior she would normally have broken his arm, but her pregnancy got the better of her.  
  
"Heh... bye bye baby..."  
  
He struck at her with the claw. Now her fighting side kicked in. She grabbed his arm at the wrist and below the elbow and threw him over her shoulder.  
  
A few other creatures, mostly ugly, began to close in on her. She drew a dagger and stood her ground. They began closeing in on her when the red one, obviously their leader, gestured for them to stop and move back.  
  
"Interesting move for a chick." he said matter-of-factly. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm... Northstar." she had forgotten to use an alias.  
  
"Thrax..."  
  
Thrax circled her slowly, causeing her danger instingts to go into hyperdrive.  
  
"Let's see what you look like under that hood." he growled again and to her own surprise she didn't resist when he pushed it back and let it fall behind her head.  
  
What he saw shocked him and the crowd around her stepped back for a better look to make sure they were seeing what was plain before their eyes.  
  
She was getting uncomfortable again.  
  
They were all in shock, includeing Thrax. The girl looked like a... human? Once more she looked like a human who was starting to show signs of being pregnant.  
  
"You're comein with us baby." Thrax, growled at last, grabbing her arm. "I'm very interested to hear what you have to say."  
  
She resisted the arm, but concidered the fact that she was outnumbered and that Thrax's arm barely budged when she pulled, she decided to comply. He pushed her into the passenger side of a truck through the driver's side and got in, starting the engine.  
  
She glared at him as she felt the vehicle accelerate. "Well baby you got some explaining to do and now's a perfact time to do it." On the steering wheel his left fore talon, which she noticed was the longest of both his hands, glowed dangerously.  
  
"How the hell did you get here? You ain't a cell, and you ain't no germ?"  
  
Her eyes widened. Germ?  
  
"What do you mean? Where am I?"  
  
"Inside somebody named Frank..."  
  
"Inside some... I feel woozy..." She sat back and put her hand on her head. "So I'm... microscopic?"  
  
"Yeah... Ya didn't notice...? Now how'd you do it? I ain't never heard of a human shrinking down to this size before!"  
  
"Sorry... I was in too much pain to notice how I got here... By the way I'm not human... just in human form."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
She sighed and removed her cape, letting her wings relax to a move comfortable position on her back. She had been holding them very close to keep them from being noticed and they had been starting to get sore.  
  
"Oh.." was his only reply.  
  
She rubbed her shoulder and explained that she was from another planet and that she was convinced that her enemy, Horde Prime, had done this to her in an attempt to get her out of the way. She also told him that there wasn't much she could do against him because she had to be very careful with the baby. (There was no sense denying it since he'd obviously seen it already anyway.) She did, however, conveniently leave out a few details; like the fact that Unarie, the name of her species, meant 'Unicorn' in English and the fact that she was a healer and that she was haveing a very very diffacult pregnancy. By the time she was done explaining herself they had passed the right Kidney.  
  
"So... what are you?" she finally asked him.  
  
"El Muerte Rojo."  
  
"El Muer..? Wait.. masculine form of... Okay, the Red Death?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I see..." She condenced some water into ice and began toying with it.  
  
"Can you shape that into anything?"  
  
"Yeah." She condenced some more and formed it into a large dagger then back again until she was making some interesting geometrical shapes with the ice. "I'm a water element so I can pretty much control moisture."  
  
"Hmmm... Interesting" This could work to his advantage "Look how's about I cut you a deal?"  
  
"What kind of deal?"  
  
"You help me take down this body and I'll help you take down this Horde guy, or at least protect you from him... fair enough?"  
  
She paused for a moment, concidering. Helping to kill this man went against everything she believed in, but maybe there was a way to subtly undo whatever he did and ensure his victim survived without Thrax realizing it was her. After all she was a Unicorn.  
  
"Hey baby it's either that or." He held the talons on his right hand to her throat, which didn't hold the same fire she sensed within his long one, but they were still, undoubtedly deadly.  
  
"I understand." She tried not to shake. She was afraid of him and she knew a lot of it was the pregnancy screwing with her hormones. "I agree. You protect us and I'll... help you."  
  
"Us?"  
  
She patted her abdomen.  
  
"Ah.. Good. Just don't forget that I'm in charge here and ain't no cop or chick gonna get in my way Kapesh?"  
  
"Aye."  
  
They pulled into some place called 'Big toe's garage' she assumed it was his hideout.  
  
"Well baby here we are." he announced as he got out of the truck.  
  
She slowly opened her door and got out, fighting another wave of pain.  
  
"C'mon in baby... You're gonna help us overcome a minor setback..."  
  
She stepped in and sat on the couch as Thrax breifed her on the situation. Apparently in a few hours they were going to this body's hypothalamus gland to steal a DNA bead.  
  
"How are you at sneaking around?" he wanted to know.  
  
"Fair... depends on the situation I guess..."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"If I have to I can be pretty elusive and if I'm found I'm hard to catch."  
  
"Can you use those things or are they just for show." He ment her wings.  
  
"I can fly, but not in tight places. I need plenty of room to spread my wings. Why, you need a 'lift' so to speak?"  
  
"Oh no I have my own way to keep airborne."  
  
She looked him over. He had no wings, no jetpack, no nothing that indicated he could fly. Maybe he had a glider hidden under that trenchcoat or something.  
  
"How? Levitation?"  
  
"No... You'll see baby."  
  
He smirked. Just then one of the germs turned on the news and Thrax turned to listen.  
  
"...Continueing cold symptoms, while annoying, will not derail plans for the upcomeing trip to the buff..."  
  
Noone could hear what else the anchorman said because Thrax had burst into laughter. The germs looked at each other, and wondered amongst themselves what was so funny. Northstar looked at her hands, which were folded nervously in her lap. She thought it best to stay out of this.  
  
"Hey boss... what's so funny?" A germ named Lenny asked.  
  
"Th... They're makeing this too easy!" Thrax laughed manically, tears forming in the corners of his golden yellow eyes. He stopped laughing and gestured with his left hand.  
  
"You know in all the bodies I've been in noone has ever gotten wise to me and now for the first time.." he smirked and pointed out the window at some invisable person,  
  
"An immunity cell has figure out everything.. and they don't believe him!" he chuckled and the other germs snickered nervously, "Can you taste the irony in that?"  
  
He glared at the two lackies, who obviously didn't get the joke.  
  
"Shut up!" He snarled then turned to Northstar, "You know you're pretty quiet there baby... somethin wrong?" His smirk made her nervous.  
  
"I'm just waiting to get this over with..."  
  
"Heh... Just keep your nose clean and stay on my good side.." He lifted her chin with his left fore talon. She felt the fire within and a drop of sweat ran down her temple, "And you won't get turned to Unarie dust got it?"  
  
The talon glowed and she nodded slowly. He growled and pulled a tarp off the back of the truck. "Alright we're back on schedule..."  
  
He picked up a few pollen pods and pushed them into his trenchcoat.  
  
"But boss..." a bacteria protested, "We're the only ones left. Maybe we should... incubate for a while?"  
  
Thrax stopped what he was doing and stood up slowly. The germ clearly didn't sense the danger that was building, but Northstar did. Holding her left fist to her chest she backed toward the door slowly.  
  
"You incubate!" she heard Thrax snarl, as he held his glowing talon to his forehead, "I said forty-eight hours and I'm gonna make my deadline."  
  
He thrust it into his head and walked away as Northstar lept quickly away from the flames.  
  
"Medical books aren't written about losers!" he snarled as he exited the inferno that was once the big toe garage.  
  
The virus sensed something behind him and saw the girl standing back from the flames. She seemed frozen on the spot.  
  
"How the hell did you survive?" he wanted to know, turning her by the shoulder to face him.  
  
She was immediately pulled out of her terrified stupor and composed herself.  
  
"I had the sense to get to a good distance when I felt danger mounting."  
  
"I see..."  
  
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..."  
  
"Oh no!" He grabbed her around the waist with his right arm as he held his most dangerous talon to her neck. "You ain't buggin' out on me now... You and I have a job to do and we made a deal." the talon began to glow.  
  
She felt its flame and turned her face away from it. "You said you'd help me if I protected you and I always keep my word baby, besides... Where else do you have to go? This ain't your world."  
  
On those words she stopped struggleing immediately. He was right. She didn't have much choice did she? She prayed that he really was a man of his word, even if he obviously seemed evil and she knew that if she broke her word, that would null their agreement and he would kill her. Her hand went to her abdomen. She would do the only thing she could do to protect her unborn.  
  
"My appologies..." she murmured. "We'd better get going if you're gonna make your deadline..."  
  
Thrax let her go.  
  
"I'm keepin' my eye on you babe." he gestured with that same glowing claw. "Now let's go."  
  
She nodded and took flight right behind him. As they arrived at the brain she began to feel even more uneasy about this whole thing and prayed that she would be able to reverse whatever it was Thrax was about to do, though she doubted it.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
She watched from a distance as back up as he thrust his claw into the outer protection of the DNA strand. He chose his bead and then ran out again. When the alarm sounded and Thrax began looking for a way out thats when she lost track of him.  
  
She decided that he was finding a way out and the logical thing to do would be to do the same and meet him there. Going to her natural form she exited the brain and galloped to the expressway, going for the best and nearest exit, the mouth. It was a really good thing she knew human anatomy.  
  
It wasn't long before Frank began to become very, very hot with fever, she knew he wouldn't last much longer and if she was going to make a copy of that DNA bead to return to Frank's hypothalamus gland, she had to do it fast, because he wouldn't last much longer. In theory she could copy individual DNA properties, even whole beads, but no more. There would need to be a lot of magical aid for this, if it was even possable to pull it off.  
  
She was begining to get very dizy and weak. Frank's fever was getting too high for her and she had a low tolerance for heat. She took flight. It took less energy and it might make her cool down. Below her she spotted a red, malicious-looking car speeding down the expressway, narrowly missing whatever other car it passed.  
  
Feeling it save to assume it was him she kept her eyes on it and followed him toward the Uvula and snuck in, useing the beams on the celing to move around. She started to approch him as he got out of the car, but stopped short when she realized he had a hostage.  
  
Below her she noticed two figures approaching them. One of them she assumed to be officer Jones, who the radio had announced was fired from the immunity force, she had no idea who the other robot-guy was. This was when she decided to step in. Spreading her wings to fly down to Thrax, she lept from the beam.  
  
Just as she was halfway there, she doubled up in pain. Agonizing tension shot through her abdomen and she crashed to the ground, feeling her left wing get hurt. Whether it was broken or sprained she didn't know, but it would make flying a very difficult task, if she was able to at all.  
  
She passed out from the heat and the increaseing pain in her middle.  
  
When she came to Thrax was takeing off with Osmosis in hot pursuit. Letting out a neigh she galloped to the edge and took flight, forgetting about her hurt wing. The pain stabbed through her joints so she took on her anthropomorphic form since it was easier on her wings, and gained on them.  
  
They landed on a little girl's eye. She didn't know who she was, but she could sense that the girl was really distressed. She decided that this time she would quit being so useless and actually attempt to keep her end of the bargen. She transformed into her true form again and knocked Thrax out of the way as Jones was about to land a punch.  
  
"Are you still around?!?" Thrax blinked in surprise.  
  
"Just keeping my end of the bargan."  
  
"... For once..." He and Jones circled each other. Jones tried not to stare.  
  
"Oh hush..."  
  
"Normally I'd let you in on it, but just hang back baby... This jerk's mine..."  
  
"Fine..." She had tried to get a hold of the chain as she'd knocked him over so that she could, hopefully, get a hold of the bead and get it back to Frank. All she needed was a combination of technology and magic to download the bead, or at least the code from it, to a special med-device, make a copy of it and fly like a bat out of hell back to Frank with it while Thrax and Jones duked it out here. Unfortunately she hadn't been able to touch it.  
  
She did as she was told and eyed the scene going on before her, but when they were thrown onto the false eyelash by the girl's blink she had to get out of the way and landed on one of Shane's actual eyelashes. Despite the battle in front of her her thoughts drifted to home. That's where she wanted to be, especially in her present condition.  
  
A loud scream jerked her from her thoughts. The eyelash was falling from the child's eye, Jones was surfing on a tear and Thrax, stuck to the falsie, was falling helplessly toward a beaker of alcohol.  
  
Without a moment to spare she leapt from the eyelash, spreading her wings and hurling herself toward him. She grabbed him and tried to pull him off, but his left hand was stuck tight to the eyelash.  
  
Thrax looked at her and his eyes widened in shock as her attire completely changed from blue jeans and a white t-shirt to armor. She drew a long dagger and cut the heavy side of the falsie then the lighter all the way through. Just as she began to pull him up again they smacked the alcohol. Thrax winced in pain as his entire body up to his throat was dunked into the alcohol. She heard a splash as the device plumited deep into the beaker. All hope of Frank being saved with that was gone...  
  
Flapping her powerful wings she took to the air again and pulled him out of the beaker, laying him down gently on the table. The alcohol hadn't had a chance to disolve him, but he had been fately wounded. 


	2. Close calls and new beginings

Chapter 2  
  
Following her first instingt she grabbed hold of his clothes and removed them as fast as possable. Then she condenced some water to rince the alcohol off him. Thrax grunted in pain, but said nothing.  
  
Her first priority was to get him stabilized, but without the proper equipment that would be difficult. Suddenly he went into a fit of caughing, then went limp. Her eyes widened. She didn't know why she did it, but she cradeled his head in her arms and placed her forehead to his, halfway going to her natural form.  
  
Her Alicorn glowed as the base of it touched his dreadlocks. A single tear fell from her eyes and onto his cheek, running down to his lips. As it passed them Thrax began to glow a soft red. His wounds began to close up and heal and life returned to his listless body.  
  
She gasped in surprise that, where once she sensed death, there was life, and dropped him.  
  
"Ow!" he exclaimed as his head hit the table. "What the hell'r ya.."  
  
He noticed he was naked. "Crap!"  
  
"Oh... Sorry..." She turned her head.  
  
"Where...are... my clothes?" he managed  
  
"Over there" She pointed to a black and grey pile of wet cloth a few feet away. "Better let me wash them first... they have alcohol all over them."  
  
"What happened? I remember falling into that beaker, burning pain... You pulled me out and then everything went black..."  
  
"I healed you... It's kind of hard to explain. C'mon..."  
  
She offered her hand and Thrax took it, reluctantly and tried to ignore the fact that he was completely naked. She picked up his clothes and flew him to a high shelf, rincing them well in a puddle of water from a glass that someone spilled on the counter then hung them up to dry.  
  
"You know Thrax, you don't have to cover yourself like that... Nudity is not taboo in my culture."  
  
Thrax kept his hands firmly over his crotch. "Well mine ain't yours."  
  
"Well concidering I'm female..."  
  
Thrax's eyes widened for a second then he smirked. "You're naughty..."  
  
"Glad you noticed..."  
  
"Well considering you're pregnant that was pretty obvi..."  
  
He stopped abruptly as she turned to give him an icy glare. Apparently he'd touched a nerve. To his surprise her eyes flashed as red as his skin as she approched him. His hands moved from his crotch to his sides and his claw glowed in rediness. If she attacked him she would regret it.  
  
But she didn't attack. She simply snorted at him and walked past, shoveing him with her shoulder, walking to the edge of the counter with her arms crossed.  
  
"What was that all about?" He wanted to know.  
  
Her tail wrapped around her ankles and her body tensed.  
  
"Northstar...?" He walked over to her and touched her arm, pulling his hand back when she shuddered.  
  
"The child is half human..." She said at last. "The father used artificial means to impregnate me, because he knew that the weight of his cyborg parts... they cover most of his body now... would have crushed me to death if he'd raped me..."  
  
"Oh..." Even to a virus such as Thrax... Rape was a disgusting act.  
  
He walked around to her front... Her hair was draped over the left side of her face and she was staring at her feet. Slowly she looked up at him and was surprised when she saw concern for her rather than disgust in his eyes. She turned her head away.  
  
"I shouldn't have told you that..." She noticed he wasn't covering himself anymore.  
  
"Has modesty left you dear Thrax?" she smirked, changeing the subject. He smirked back, figureing she'd already seen everything he had so why bother?  
  
They stood there for a long time, looking at the view of the hospital room. Frank was being wheeled out to another room and Shane followed close beside.  
  
"So... tell me more about what the heck you are."  
  
She laughed. "Alright... Um... you may wanna sit down..."  
  
He sat on the ground and she sat in front of him.  
  
"Well for starters I'm a healer... obviously... I'm better at wounds than sickness... though I can cure disease if it's artificially created or mutated... which means I can't cure a body infected by you."  
  
Thrax smirked again.  
  
"Anyway... I've also been trained in several fighting forms... weaponry... etcetera... But my hormones are really screwing with my emotions so until I'm not pregnant anymore I'm gonna be cranky, unpredictable, sometimes submissive and timid, sometimes psycho-bitch from you-know-where..." she sighed, "I've got other powers too, but I really don't feel like listing them off to you okay?"  
  
"Eh..."  
  
"Um... I'm surprised you have..." She pointed between his legs.  
  
"Why should you be? Gotta reproduce don't I?"  
  
"I thought viruses reproduced by injecting something into body cells..."  
  
"Only into certain types of cells... That's the boreing way... Becides you need too much special equipment for that and it gets expensive."  
  
"Ah... So what do we do now?"  
  
"Infect somebody else... and I'm still holding you to your bargan"  
  
Northstar was about to say something when she stopped cold where she was.  
  
"What is it?" Thrax wanted to know.  
  
"Shh!"  
  
"Wha..."  
  
"SH!... There's a fire element near..."  
  
"Yeah.. me..." His talon glowed dimly to emphacize his point..  
  
"No... not you..."  
  
Thrax stood up, claw glowing bright orange, as did Northstar. From behind a pill bottle what looked to the virus like one of Northstar's species walked toward them. The difference was that he was deep red, his tail and mane were made of fire, his horn was not only gnarled and twisted, but also a sooty orange, his wings were batlike and flameing and his eyes were black. The creature snorted smoke and stamped his cloven hooves. Northstar's eyes flashed red...  
  
"You..." There was hatered in her voice.  
  
"Yes... Me..." It grinned cruelly. "I can solve your... 'small' problem you know Princess..."  
  
"Princess?" Thrax mouthed.  
  
"Why would I wan't your help Horde Prime...?" She snarled, going to her natural form and rearing dangerously.  
  
"The spell can be lifted only by the caster.."  
  
Without warning the Unicorn mare reared up and charged the larger, stronger looking stallion. Horde Prime lowered his head and threw her to the side. She caught herself on all four hoofs and charged again. This time they clashed horns.  
  
Interested, Thrax simply stood back and watched. He didn't feel comfortable fighting naked anyway. Northstar crouched low and lunged herself at his throat, teeth first, he dodged, but her horn connected painfully with his side and cut a deep gash along his flank, below the wing.  
  
Horde Prime turned back to her. Where before he seemed amused he was now enraged. Never before had a Unicorn's horn managed to harm him and it never would again. Letting out a roar, his form changed to a flameing Griffin and made another lunge at her. Before he could get to her Thrax lept on him. He had put on his wet cloths and plunged his claw deep into the left side of Horde Prime's chest.  
  
The demon fell and turned to growl at Thrax from the floor. The virus's entire left hand was drenched in blood as he pulled it back.  
  
"Your 'boyfriend' can't protect you forever Northstar... This was a fluke... I'll be back." In a burst of flame, Horde Prime departed.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend..." Northstar returned to her anthropomorphic form. "Why did you interfere?" she demanded. "You could have been killed!" She crossed her arms and glared at him.  
  
A wound on her arm was bleeding, but she didn't seem to care.  
  
"Just keepin' my end of the bargain baby." He told her.  
  
"Oh." She bit her lower lip and look down then returned her gaze to him. "Thank you."  
  
Before Thrax could reply she walked up to him, placed a hand on his mouth and kissed his cheek. Then, smileing, she placed her hand on his chest and in a few seconds his clothes were dry. "It pays to be a water element..."  
  
"Now why the heck couldn't you have done that before?"  
  
"Now where's the fun in that?" She winked and sat down to treat her wound.  
  
"Here... let me do that." Thrax said, kneeling down beside her and takeing the first aid kit.  
  
She looked at him scilently as he began cleaning it. Their eyes met and held for a moment, then Thrax returned to his task. Northstar was grateful that he didn't see her cheeks turn red. He wrapped some gauze around it and placed the first aid supplies back in her bag.  
  
"There... better?"  
  
She flexed her arm as if it's joint had been put back in it's socket. "Yeah." she murmered.  
  
Sighing she looked at the view. She was no stranger to being in a hospital. She'd spent enough time in them, both visiting patents and being a patent herself, but she had never seen one from quite this angle before.  
  
"I think we'd better move on before I get any more weirded out..."  
  
Thrax nodded and tried to take to the air, but discovered that in his breif skirmish with Horde Prime his trenchcoat had been ripped. Curseing he removed it to look over the damage. There was a huge slash all down the left side. Northstar approched him and looked it over. "I'll fix it for you luv..." she told him as she handed it back and transformed. "Hop on. You're not the only one with the power of flight." Decideing not to argue Thrax swung a leg over her back and draped his torn trenchcoat accross the base of her neck.  
  
Letting out a soft neigh she lept from the shelf and took to the air. "Sygnal me by tugging my mane, but gently... I won't hesitate to buck your tail off."  
  
"Just follow Frank..."  
  
"What?!" she exclaimed. "Oh don't tell me we're gonna try to take him down again!"  
  
"Probably not... He'd probably be more useful as a carrier than a victim now... since his immune system knows about me now." he smirked, "Though they think I'm dead, so they wouldn't be expecting another attack."  
  
"Thrax... the man has a daughter."  
  
"So?"  
  
She sighed and beat her wings again, holding them steady to glide in the air. It wasn't long before they finally caught up with Frank. He pointed toward his mouth so, with another flap of her wings and a change in posture, she dove toward it, landing on the outer lip. He began to urge her in when she stopped, head down and eyes closed tight. Grunting she pulled her head up and fought off the pain.  
  
Once inside the body they made their way to the right shoulderblade and got a hotel room. Thrax remained out of sight while Northstar secured it. "Nice place..." she commented, still getting used to the more cellular aspect to this new world. She sat down on the couch in her human form and leaned back, at least it was comfortable. "Mmm..."  
  
"Something wrong baby?" Thrax smirked  
  
"I haven't slept a wink in thirty-two hours... I'm gonna get some shuteye."  
  
"Fine..."  
  
She lay down on the couch and rested her head on the arm. Thrax decided to go see what he could dig up in the refrigerator. When he returned with a couple drinks Northstar was fast asleep, her left arm falling off and touching the floor. Occasionally she would groan in her sleep.  
  
Thrax cocked his head to the side and pushed her hand back onto the couch. In responce she changed positions so that her back was faceing him. He thought it was rather odd that in her anthrophmorphic and natural form her hair was a shimmering gold color, but in human form it was plain brown and a bit less wavy. He reached out slowly and touched it out of curiosity. He'd never seen anyone from the human world like this before, so close to his size, so easy to touch and to study. As he drew his hand from the sleeping girl's hair he noticed something on her back.  
  
Her t-shirt came down a bit in the back and her hair had fallen to the side a bit to reveal her skin. He pulled her shirt out of the way a bit and what he saw peiqued his curiosity even more. Her back was laden with deep, angry scars. From what he didn't know. "Mmm..." he mused and placed one of the drinks on the coffee table near her, then he retired to the back bedroom.  
  
The next morning...  
  
Northstar woke up and streatched out her arms. At first she was startled and had no idea where she was, but soon the grogginess faded and she sat up. "Finally awake?" a smooth voice asked her.  
  
"I'm up Thrax... but awake is another matter entirely..."  
  
"I see... Yeesh you slept a while didn't you... I was gonna wake you up if you slept for more than twelve hours."  
  
"How long was I out?"  
  
"About nine and a half..."  
  
"Well I haven't slept for almost two days so..."  
  
"Yeah I figured... You should take it easy with that baby and all..."  
  
"Yeah.." was it just her or did he sound concerned?  
  
"Want some eggs?" He set down a plate of eggs and hash  
  
"You cook?"  
  
"Hey I'm a batchlor baby... Whatda you expect?"  
  
"Thanks..."  
  
Without another word she sat and ate. They remained in the hotel for about another week. Outside Frank was going on a camping trip with Shane. Just him and his daughter. It was that night that Thrax decided that they would be leaveing Frank's body.  
  
They drove up to the mouth, which seemed to be Thrax's favorite way of entering and leaveing a body, but on the way, roughly around the jugular they passed by a familiar blue sports car... with a very familiar white blood cell and cold pill.  
  
Osmosis recodnized Thrax immediately and, assumeing that Northstar was a hostage since Jones had only seen her natural form, the chase began. They careened through highways and Thrax nearly knocked some people off the roads. It was a wonder why he didn't.  
  
Eventually the persuit ended in the throat when Drix shot out the two back tires. Almost in unison Thrax and his passanger exited the vehicle and Drix opened fire on the Virus while Osmosis tried to move to secure Northstar. She would have none of it and slapped his hand away as she rushed in front of Thrax, her right hand held out before her to stop the ball of ice in it's tracks.  
  
Thrax just looked at her, bewildered. It was as if the blast from Drix's cannon were being held up right in front of his face by string. As quickly as she had caught it she threw it to the side. "Ice..." she said, "is simply frozen water... Care to have another go at it there luv?" She condenced an iceball of her own and threw it at their feet, freezeing the ground in front of them as a warning.  
  
"Look I don't know who you are, but nither of you are goin nowhere!" Jones growled, holding his gun up. "I don't know how that hot-head survived, but he ain't gonna much longer!"  
  
Northstar took Thrax's right hand in her left. He looked at her, raiseing an eyebrow. "Trust me..." Was all she said, before a tentacle of ice surrounded them and she took flight, useing the ice that surrounded them as a sheild from the gunfire.  
  
Once they were out of range she let go of him so that Thrax could extend his trenchcoat. "Impressive baby... and to think I was starting to think you were useless.."  
  
Northstar smirked. "You should see me when I'm not pregnant..."  
  
"Hopefully that'll be soon... Is it really normal for you to be this moody?" They had just passed the base of the tounge.  
  
"Oh very funny... You want me to ice you?"  
  
They were off past the lips and into the wilderness and landed on a blade of grass to rest. "Well that was pointless..." Northstar sighed, referring to the breif skirmish with Osmosis and Drix. Thrax half smiled, but said nothing. The Unarie woman exhaled and leaned back on her hand. Her wings drooped down in a lazy resting position. Her other hand draped accross her lap and her eyes half closed. She wasn't tired, just enjoying her moment of rare tranquility.  
  
Thrax stared at her for a while. She had an innocence about her that he had come to like, but she had also proved very useful to him when her hormones didn't have the better of her. As she sat there dozeing Thrax slid his hand under a few strands of hair on her tail and ran his claws through them. At first Northstar didn't seem to notice, but then with a gasp she turned half her body to face him. "Thrax... wha... what are you doing?"  
  
"Sorry baby... I've never seen hair before... not like this."  
  
"Oh...I thought you were... nevermind."  
  
"Nah... Just curious about your locks."  
  
"Are you a telepath or something?" she smirked  
  
"No... But I figured that's what you were thinking... Hey Northstar?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"What if I was?"  
  
"Mmm..."  
  
She nervously returned to her orriginal position and just as she had begun to relax she felt a hand over hers... well it was actually a few fingers, but it still shocked the heck out of her. She turned to look at Thrax. He was looking in another direction, probably looking for another victim, but his three fingers had absentmindedly found themselves touching hers.  
  
For a moment she just stared at him then, pulling her fingers from under his, she shifted positions. Scooting beside him she leaned against his right arm to see what he would do. His eyes never shifted, but his arm did. It wraped itself around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.  
  
She looked at him again, still a little nervous. His head didn't move and his expression never changed, never faultered. Exhaleing again she laied her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Thank you Thrax..." She whispered. She was finally begining to adjust to this new world... 


	3. New host

Chapter 3  
  
A month later...  
  
It was getting far more obvious now how pregnant she had become. Northstar hadn't helped much in the killing humans department. In fact she had insisted that he be more selective about his victims. Reluctantly he had agreed and his last target had been some unknown man in Montanna who stalked and killed hikers. He still made plenty of kills, it was just the only ones she would help him take out were those who 'deserved' to be ill or those who were in such condition that she determined death to be a blessing. She never interacted directly with any member of immunity or those Thrax enlisted to help him, but she was always there right when she was needed.  
  
"You know it's really getting boreing chooseing the same old targets Northstar..." Thrax growled at her one day. "I like a little variety now and then you know..."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I just don't like the idea of killing innocent people... Becides... the last one you wanted to kill happened to be an old schoolmate of mine..."  
  
"Well excuse me... Well I guess we'll be takeing some time off from it soon anyway... You're getting to be in no condition for it... And what if that Horde guy comes around again... The more vunerable you get, the more he attacks you..."  
  
Northstar bit her lower lip. It was true that only a few weeks ago Horde Prime had attacked them again. Thrax had had to step in because she'd had one of her boughts of pain. As a result Horde Prime had nearly taken her and Thrax had to fight him off. Unfortunately the demonlike creature had also discovered that she was pregnant, a fact that she was trying to hide from him. Northstar was getting more and more antsy every time she had to exert herself. She was afraid for the baby.  
  
"I guess... whatever happens... happens..." She stroked her belly, both loveingly and worrily.  
  
"Still... We're gonna find another host body and use it to just chill for a little while... give you some time to get your health back..."  
  
"Why not just find some place out here to stay?"  
  
"Because it's safer inside a human body."  
  
"You know Thrax... I love you, but sometimes you can be such a pill..."  
  
"I could take that two ways you know..."  
  
Thrax had gotten used to her moods. He'd had to, there was no getting rid of her ever since they'd left Frank's body and he had taken to protecting her for more reasons than their bargan.  
  
Northstar sat down on a bit of dirt that was hanging onto the windowsill they were perched on and rested her head in her hands. Thrax sat beside her and hugged her around the waist, allowing her to snuggle up to him and press her head under his chin. "Mmh." he murmured as he kissed her behind the horn. He'd rather taken to the feel of her hair on his face. He did care for her, but he hadn't yet been able to bring himself to use the 'L' word.  
  
Northstar sighed. "Alright Thrax... Who do you have in mind to invade this time?"  
  
Thrax smiled. "Well the people who live here are as good as any."  
  
"Well there's someone right there." She pointed at a woman in the kitchen who had opened the oven to check on her pies.  
  
"No.. we wait for her husband."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He's an army ranger so he has to keep himself in top physical shape. His immune system will be diffacult to penetrate by anyone inexperianced in invadeing the human body..."  
  
"Someone like Horde Prime?"  
  
"Precicely... I've killed people more fit than him, but he'll do fine. I'm an expert at eludeing immunity and I'm willing to bet Horde Prime doesn't know the first thing about the human body."  
  
"He knows enough to be able to torture one..." she mumbled under her breath.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Nothing... So... what time does he get home?"  
  
"Not sure really. Should be soon though."  
  
Thrax looked in at the wife of the man they were about to invade. She was an obvious neat freak. It looked like she had at least one can of disinfectant spray for every two rooms in the house. Yep, she'd be safe around here alright... But would he?  
  
He decided to move them to a part of the windowsil that would be more diffacult to get at. The human woman was spraying lysol on the cutting board and it made him nervous. They ended up haveing to wait for several hours before a tall, muscular man in fatigues and a tan shirt walked into the kitchen and kissed his wife.  
  
"Alright that's it baby, let's go." Thrax told her.  
  
They flew from the sill and landed on his hand. They were going to ride it to his mouth when he wiped his lips, but Northstar pointed out a fresh cut on the soldier's hand. "It'll be faster this way." Thrax nodded and they slipped into the cut. As soon as they entered the body Northstar held tight to Thrax's arm.  
  
The place had about twice the white blood cells as any of the other bodies she'd been in with Thrax, and about ten times what Frank had. "C'mon baby... I'll get us an apartment..."  
  
"An apartmment?" she asked, "Why not a hotel like last time?"  
  
"Because we're staying till you have the baby."  
  
She nodded. "Thrax?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Will you be able to control your nature until then... I'm only six months along... My gestation is ten."  
  
"I'll try to... For your sake."  
  
"Thanks." She smiled. "You know you haven't said it yet, but you really do love me don't you?"  
  
Thrax's responce was to wrap his arms around her and kiss her cheek. He didn't say anything, but he got his message accross. He opened his trenchcoat and wrapped half of it around her. He didn't know anything about being pregnant, but he knew that Northstar felt safe when she was warm and he wanted to keep her that way.  
  
"What in the world is that?" Northstar wanted to know as she watched a strange powderwhite figure in grey and blue army clothes walk by them.  
  
"That's an antibiotic.. Not sure what kind. This guy must have some kind of infection... Let's keep moveing. We don't want him to..." Thrax was interrupted.  
  
"You'd better not be here to cause trouble mister..." The pill had spotted Thrax.  
  
"Just here for a short period... I'm looking for an apartment to stay in for a few months... that's all... No fever, no nausea. That's all."  
  
"You'd better hope for your sake that's all you're up to Red. I know a virus when I see one..."  
  
"I'm in remission... The names Thrax..."  
  
"I've got my eyes on you... You can call me Amoxicillin."  
  
"Dang... That'll cure anything!" Northstar whispered from under Thrax's trenchcoat.  
  
"And who th heck'r you?"  
  
She moved the fold aside and Thrax kept his hand protectively on her shoulder.  
  
"Northstar..."  
  
"What kinda disease are you?"  
  
"I'm not a disease. I Assure you Mr Amoxicillin, I'm quite begnine. I'm also pregnant. My husband and I are only here until I have the baby and have had some time to recover. After that I promise we'll be on our way. Isn't that right love?" she placed her hand over Thrax's and squeezed a little. Thrax only nodded.  
  
"Alright..." Cillen growled. "But I warn you... If I find any trace of Jackson being ill I'm comeing streight to you..."  
  
"Why don't you check with the germs you're obviously here for first." Thrax shot at him. "We've just gotten here."  
  
Amoxicillen flashed him another warning look, "Think you can rein him in there missy?"  
  
Northstar nodded. "I promise we won't cause any trouble. I'll make sure he behaves himself." Thrax gave her a look.  
  
Glareing at them again the antibiotic left.  
  
"Husband?" Thrax wanted to know as they went in search of an apartment.  
  
"Well I had to say something... Becides, Do viruses even have Marriage ceramonies?"  
  
"Some do... Do Unicorns?" Thrax now knew what Unarie actually ment.  
  
Her answer was the same as his. They found a good apartment in the right bicep. It was already furnished and Thrax managed to get hold of plenty of money, though she didn't know how. After a while of concidering she decided she didn't want to know.  
  
Northstar sighed one morning as she used a small med device to check a sample of her blood. "My kingdom for a gynocologist.." she murmured. When the test came back okay she sterilized it and put it away.  
  
"We could probably find a good one in the penis..."  
  
"Yeah like they'd know what to do... Becides I'm not going to set foot inside some guy's wang!"  
  
Thrax burst out laughing.  
  
"Oh you hush. I'm gonna go take a shower."  
  
Thrax nodded and she stepped into the shower stall, shedding her clothing. It was in these moments of peace as she clensed her body that she felt at home. So absorbed was she in letting the warm water wash over her she didn't hear Thrax step into the door way. At least not until he asked her, "Mind if I join you?"  
  
She gasped a bit in surprise and then shrugged. "I guess... I thought you didn't like being naked around me." She remembered the alcohol.  
  
"I'm used to you by now." He hung up his trench coat and took off his shirt.  
  
Northstar giggled and pulled back the curtian so that he wouldn't have to when he got in. Thrax stopped undressing immediately. He'd seen her in her halfway form before, but never like this. Her hair and tail were both wet and every movement of her wings caused droplets of water to fly off them. Her horn seemed to sparkle even more under the steady stream.  
  
He thought it strange that when she turned fully human her hair was brown, but when she decided to merge the two it was a lighter gold than her horn. Being male he couldn't help eyeing her. He noticed that she had a little tuft of golden hair in her pubic area. Yep, that was her natural color alright. That thought made him chuckle.  
  
"Not that innocent are you baby?" he smirked  
  
"Who me?" she smirked back. "I thought you needed a shower.  
  
Thrax shook his head, shed the rest of his clothes and stepped in with her, getting a rag to scrub her back with...  
  
"Feel clean now Thrax?" Northstar wanted to know as as she toweled her hair dry.  
  
"Actually now I feel dirty." he laughed.  
  
"Why? All we did was scrub each other's backs..."  
  
Thrax shook his head as Northstar held her hands over her head and slowly brought them down at her sides. As she did she was dressed in a long, flowing white nightgown.  
  
"How... did you do that?"  
  
"A little trick I picked up back home. I fooled one of Horde Prime's men into teaching me how to access a pocket of subspace."  
  
"Think you could teach me?"  
  
"I don't think so... I've got to use magic to do it. I know there's a way to access one without magic, but I don't know how."  
  
"I see... what do you keep in it anyway?"  
  
"Clothes mostly... some weaponry and medical supplies. I don't have much in it right now."  
  
"Hey there's something I've been meaning to ask you baby?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Those scars on your back..."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Where did they come from?"  
  
In responce she wraped her arms around his waist and burried her face in the front of his grey turtleneck. He had not yet replaced his trench coat. He noted her shudder as he traced one of them and then he understood. Frowning a bit he pulled her closer and rested his deadly left hand gently on the back of her head.  
  
She left the apartment to get a few things with Thrax following close behind. She was hopeing to find something she could safely use against the pain. He was hopeing they didn't run into that stupid antibiotic again.  
  
They stopped and ate someplace in the soldier's shoulder. She stirred her coffee and sat back as Thrax prodded at a slice of pie Northstar insisted that he try that he didn't think he'd like.  
  
Just then a familiar face walked in. It was Amoxicillin he sat down in a booth near them and ordered some strong coffee, growling about it takeing too long to clear out the staph bacteria that had invaded the human's digestive tract. "That's painful." she whispered to Thrax. "I had one one time..."  
  
"What did you take for it?"  
  
She chuckled. "Amoxicillin."  
  
"Figures..."  
  
They heard another growl behind them and Amoxicillin stormed past them toward the restrooms. 'He must really be frazzed...' Northstar thought. 'I sense a lot of anger.' She decided it would be best to try not to provoke him.  
  
On his way back the antibiotic stopped and short then made a beeline for their booth. Thrax narrowed his yellow eyes and his left talon glowed under the table. Northstar's tension was begining to bring on one of her pains.  
  
"And what would you two be doing here?"  
  
"Haveing coffee."  
  
"Wondering if this is edible..."  
  
"As an important pill to this body Mayor Cardings allows me full access to the brain and many of it's funtions."  
  
"Imagin that..." Thrax muttered sarcastically.  
  
"You, my dear, look very much like the creatures the President has decided to ally himself with?  
  
"The Unarie?" Northstar fought the sinking feeling that began in her stomache.  
  
"Some force Called the Horde has invaded Earth... Something about a key warrior being taken out of comission..."  
  
Northstar started to pull out a dagger, but Thrax beat her to the punch. "And just what would you know about the Horde Baby?" The virus demanded dangerously. The entire room fell scilent and Thrax's claw had become so hot it's orange glow faded to yellow then to white toward the tip.  
  
A lesser organism would have been frozen with terror this close to Thrax's deadly claw, but the pill stood his ground. "I happen to know from Major Andrew Jackson's breifing that that girl is needed against the Horde and that the fact that she's out of the way is the reason the Horde invaded Earth." he paused as Thrax pressed the claw even closer to his neck. "I also know that she's the only surviveing warrior of her species with the traning to go up against their leader personally."  
  
"I do pretty well on my own." Thrax growled. "Mind your own business baby... Cause when you play with fire... Sooner or later you're gonna get burned."  
  
"What the heck are the chances that we'd invade a body who's come in contact with someone who knows about my species."  
  
"Pretty good if you invade any military personell over the rank of E2... Nearly the entire millitary force knows about it."  
  
"W... what?"  
  
"They begun their invasion nearly a fortnight ago..."  
  
Northstar banged her fists on the table. She had an empathic link with her planet and her people and she had been senseing for a while now that their numbers were dwindleing. Unfortunately it was naught more than an awareness and she didn't know until she was told that they had made an alience with Earth. "Let him go Thrax..." she said slowly.  
  
"You're kidding right?"  
  
"Thrax... He has some information I need... Even if I can't do anything about it, I would still like to know what's going on. Please let him go."  
  
Growling Thrax withdrew, but his claw remained warningly bright. The antibiotic pushed past Thrax roughly and sat down across from Northstar. Eyes narrowed, Thrax sat next to her.  
  
"I don't know much about what's going on, but I do know that your species is..."  
  
"dissapearing..." She cut him off. "I know... I feel it."  
  
Thrax only looked at her and cocked his head.  
  
"Not much I can do about it really... Not in this world."  
  
The virus took her arm...  
  
"I'm an empath Thrax... And I have a link with my planet... It's more of an awareness really."  
  
"Anyway..." Amoxicillin continued, "He may be sent to battle soon."  
  
"Wonderful... I get to watch a battle, but not be able to help out..."  
  
"Oh yes we can." Thrax grinned in a very viral fashon  
  
"How?" Northstar demanded.  
  
"Hey baby I'm a disease, remember?" he whispered and melted his plate to emphicize his point. "You said a lot of the hordesmen are humans right? And those that arn't are probably still prone to getting sick arn't they?"  
  
"Well yes..." she whispered back  
  
"We'll talk later."  
  
"Any ideas on getting back to your own world..." Amoxicillin wanted to know.  
  
"Yes... but as everything I need is far too big. They won't work." She stood up and Thrax followed suit. "I'm leaveing..." All of a sudden it's a bit too crowded in here for me."  
  
Thrax let her out of the booth and then followed her out with his arm around her shoulders. There wern't many people in the diner, but he knew she just wanted a reason to leave.  
  
The moment they were outside she slumped her shoulders and breathed a heavy sigh. Thrax looked at her. If she was really able to feel her people dieing it must be very hard to endure it.  
  
They returned to their apartment and Northstar sat on the couch. "What did you have in mind Thrax?" she wanted to know. Thrax grinned evily.  
  
"We can infect the Horde... I believe it's known in your world as Biological warfare? We can wage it ourselves. Just ride this guy to whereever the fighting's going to take place..."  
  
"... And go from one Hordesmen to the other, infecting them, Thrax that's brilliant!" She sighed again in realisation. ".. But there's just one thing.."  
  
"What."  
  
"The baby remember?"  
  
"Oh.. right."  
  
"I'm haveing a lot of trouble with this pregnancy. I'm not going to be able to be of much help."  
  
"Maybe we could hitch a ride in one of your species... Find something for the pain there and move on with our mission."  
  
"That could work..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We'll see." She stood and kissed the top of his head. "I'm going to go make dinner..."  
  
Thrax watched her walk into the kitchen. She was depressed and he knew it. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much longer for this guy to get shipped out and they could get started.  
  
It took them about a week. Northstar had been laid up for a couple days and they were prepareing to leave the body. Thrax wondered why she was insisting on getting up and packing when she technically should probably be resting.  
  
They met a pudgy red blood cell just outside the apartment building. He didn't look too happy as he looked at the suitcases in their hands and glared.  
  
"Moveing?"  
  
"Yeah... Not your business." Thrax growled.  
  
Northstar shook her head and got into Thrax's car. He'd still had it since Frank.  
  
"And just where is this last month's rent." Their former landlord demanded.  
  
"So you want what you diserve?"  
  
"Yes I do."  
  
"Alright baby. Here ya go."  
  
The shock on the landlord's face slowly melted away (Litterally!) as he discovered that it wasn't money Thrax intended to give him. The virus sat down casually in the driver's seat of the car, wipeing his still-warm left claw with a cloth.  
  
"Did you really have to turn him into cellular mush?"  
  
"Sorry baby... habit... becides.. You keep forgetting I'm a virus. You cross me you'd better be ready."  
  
"Mmm... Let's just go... He'll be in the combat zone any minute."  
  
"Relax baby... It feels like his still in the air..."  
  
"Mmm..."  
  
"You know baby since that crackpot antibiotic you've been kinda depressed."  
  
"It's not... just... the pill..."  
  
"Hold up... want me to pull over?" He looked at her, noticeing that her body was locking up.  
  
"No.." She placed her left hand over his right on the gear shift, "The pain will pass... it always does.  
  
Thrax handed her an electrolite tonic they'd gotten from an apothacary. It helped a little but not much. As she began to relax he pulled a pillow from behind the passanger seat and put it behind her head.  
  
Northstar smiled and closed her eyes just as they passed a sign that said 'Left lung ahead'. Perhaps a nap was just what the doctor ordered. Though Ironically in this case the 'doctor' also happened to be a virus.  
  
Gradually the woman's breatheing became regular and deep. Thrax watched her out the corner of his eye. He was normally a very rough, agressive driver, but because he wanted to let her sleep he didn't drive so rough.  
  
Thrax cursed under his breath as someone cut him off and sped up the car and passed a very snooty looking brain cell. Then he darted in front of him and slowed down quickly by pressing the breaks then he sped up to the limit, thoroughly pissing off the brain cell.  
  
He chuckled to himself and checked on Northstar. Yep still asleep. His every move on the road was smooth and fast, but not rough. Just because his passanger needed it smooth it didn't mean he had to drive any less aggressively. He never even stopped for traffic lights and his only responce to a white blood cell that tried to pull him over was to give him the finger.  
  
He reached for her hand and slowly brought it to his lips then put it back down. She woke up when they arrived in the mouth and he stopped abruptly. She streatched, the pillow falling from her head to the small of her back. "Are we there yet?" she yawned  
  
"Yeah... As soon as he drops out of the plane we're outa here."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Hey baby you think that looks was the only thing I changed about this car when I stabbed it?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"I'm an airborn virus baby. I'm gonna hit the jets and we're outa here."  
  
"I'm not sure how we'll survive, but I'm gonna trust you..."  
  
Thrax smiled reassureingly at her and was about to say something, but they were jolted out of their thoughts by a SPIT car that pulled out in front of them. The officers were pointing their weapons at them and demanding they get out of the car with their claws up.  
  
Northstar glared at him. He'd been driveing recklessly again... Then again it could also very well be the red blood cell Thrax had killed. She looked at him as if to ask what he was going to do now.  
  
Thrax tightened her seatbelt. "Watch this baby..." he declaired and hit the gas suddenly. Neighing in surprise she tightened her grip on the seat. The cops fired after them, but the heat of their shots were mearly absorbed by the vehicle's viral chassis. 


	4. New world and unexpected allies

Ok I, like know that I may have been a bit too weird in the 'allies' but I promise they don't stay that way.. Northstar will see some major problems that her father didn't take over from her parents, and take the war past the burocratic state and to a more active one in a future chapter. Probably chapter 7. I have up to chapter 6 complete but I just haven't uploaded them yet.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Major Jackson let out a war cry and Thrax hit another button that activated a set of jets in the rear. Northstar braced against the G-forces and they flew out of the mouth.  
  
Once they were steady on their course she looked out the window. The look of a battlefeild was sickiningly familiar, but what was also familiar was that this was dangerously close to her home in River View, North Carolina. She could see the Albamarle sound that seperated the outer banks from the coast below them.  
  
She knew exactally who was human and who was not in this city. Finding one of her own species would be no trouble whatsoever. Just then she had a better idea. "Thrax... Take us down exactally where I say."  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"I used to live here... We're going to my old place... From there we'll go to my room. I should have something there we can use."  
  
"What?" He turned the wheel and started decending to the ground.  
  
"A sword... well... a stone at the base of the blade."  
  
"Oh... kay... What's the stone for."  
  
"It's a healing crystal. Don't worry it won't hurt you if I don't want it to. It should be able to transfir some energy to me that will help with the pain."  
  
"What else does it do?"  
  
"Well... pretty much whatever I want it to. Healing only requires touching the stone... Other than that I can't use it if I can't hold the sword."  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
"Here... turn here."  
  
Thrax turned down North Cherry street and sped up until they came to her house. They passed right by a wolf becide the door and went through a crack in it. Northstar looked toward the liveing room and frowned.  
  
There was no trace of her family anywhere and the house was dusty. It seemed that the only ones who were home were her brother and her youngest sisters. Then she rememebered. Her parents had gone to DC and had probably taken her twin sister Mysteria.  
  
"C'mon luv... up to my room."  
  
Thrax turned the wheel and hit the gas again. They were on their way upstairs. Through the keyhole of her locked room they easily bypassed the serurity systems which had not been designed to guard against microscopic intruders.  
  
This thought brought fear into her. If Horde Prime became microscopic he could easily slip by it. She looked around the room. Nothing had been touched... at all... by anyone. She bit her lower lip and directed Thrax toward her futon. As he landed she lept from it and reverted to her halfway form to fly to a sword under a pile of clean, but unfolded laundry.  
  
Thrax followed her and what he saw was the most unusual weapon he had ever come accross. The hilt of the sword was an equestrian head. A goldish metal mane guarded the hand grip. The blade thrusted from the forehead of the hilt and at it's base there was a single round stone. It looked a bit like an opal, but it had a luminessance all it's own and it radiated power.  
  
Northstar reached out and touched it slowly, rubbing her hand over it in reverance. This ledgendary sword had won her many battles... If only she'd had it with her the day she was transported to this microscopic world.  
  
As she touched it she felt a jolt of energy as it spoke to her and yanked her hand back. Her eyes were wide. The red virus approched her, worried. "Thrax... I... I can use it to go home."  
  
Thrax looked at her and his yellow eyes seemed to dull a bit. Surely she would use it to go home. He would miss her, but she didn't belong in his world. Not really. Northstar bit her lower lip and breathed deeply.  
  
"But if I do... It'll mean leaveing you..." Her eyes began to grow misty. She felt torn. "I'm... I'm not sure what to decide."  
  
There was an explosion outside the bedroom. "Well then baby I guess I'm gonna have to decide for you..." Thrax wasn't sure what he was thinking or what made him do it, but he grabbed Northstar around the waist with his right arm and smacked his left palm flat on the stone below the blade of the Unicorn sword.  
  
In an instant there was a white hot flash of light and a yellow glow evaloped them. They closed their eyes tightly and collapsed in an unconcious heap on the floor.  
  
When they awoke they both pushed themselves up off the dusty floor, they both leaned tiredly against her bed and they both had an entirely new prospective on what was around them. Their eyes widened. They... were in her world now. Together they looked at each other and malicious grins lit up both their faces. Oh was the Horde in for a surprise.  
  
Northstar unlocked her bedroom and Thrax followed her outside. Grinning at each other they lept out the hall window. Northstar reverted to her natural state and bade Thrax to mount up, her armor modifying to accomidate her and forming a saddle on her back. He swung his leg over her back and she took off in a fast gallop.  
  
Neighing loudly she took to the air and with a powerful flap of her wings she caught her parents scent on the wind and followed it. Her hoofs beat the air and Thrax sat back. He wasn't entirely used to flying under the power of another, but found it quite refreshing.  
  
She stayed mainly under cloud cover to avoid being spotted... by anyone. "Hold tight sweetheart!" She dove for the whitehouse. Soldiers stared at them, particularly Thrax, but let them through because of the symbol Northstar had on her saddle.  
  
Now she had never been inside this building before. She'd seen it certianly, but she'd never been anywhere near the door. Bending her head low to the floor she picked up the scent of her parents and followed it, the virus still on her back.  
  
The closer she got the faster she went. Toward the oval office her gait was just under a gallop. Two men in black suits took out pistols and pointed them at them. Neighing loudly and rearing her forelegs struck the double doors hard as she and the door came down the bullets from the secret servacemen's weapons just barely grazed the back of her neck.  
  
"Freeze!" About twenty guns cocked and pointed at them and Thrax's claw glowed red and orange. Three others of her species stood looking at them in shock. "Don't move!" the same voice warned again.  
  
"get off..." Northstar told him. Her voice was soft, but demanding. "And please stand down."  
  
Thrax dismounted slowly, not takeing his eyes off the human's surrounding the president and the other three Unarie. Two of them were bigger than Northstar and the third looked almost exactally like her, except for the lack of scars and more petite build. Then again he thought most Unarie would look alike to him.  
  
Northstar and the other three rushed at each other, Northstar bending her head down low to nip at the larger mare's shoulder. The latter laied her head over her neck and licked the base of her wings. The stallion placed his head over her back and the smaller mare rubbed muzzles with her. Northstar reared halfway then gently crossed horns and rubbed noses with all three of them.  
  
"Okay am I correct in assumeing that this is a good thing?" Thrax scratched his head in puzzlement.  
  
The stallion laughed. "Mr President please tell your men to put their weapon's away... This is Northstar. My firstborn."  
  
The President motioned for his men to lower their weapons. They obeyed, but not without hesitation.  
  
Northstar turned human and her family followed suit. Thrax could now see that the smaller mare really did look almost identicle to Northstar. They spoke in a language that Thrax didn't recodnize, much less understand.  
  
"Where have you been?" Her mother wanted to know  
  
"It's a long story Mother... I'll explain later."  
  
"It had bettter be sooner young mare..." Her father demanded.  
  
"A c'mon dad... She's been through Hell. Let her take a break." She turned to her sister. "Great to have you back sis." she smiled.  
  
"It's great to be back Mysteria."  
  
"Perhaps we should wrap up this meeting soon Skylight." Northstar's father said evenly.  
  
"Agreed Alaric. We should get her home as soon as possable."  
  
Alaric turned to Bush. "I'm sorry Mr President, but this meeting will have to come to a close. There's a bit of breifing and debreifing to do." He placed his hand on Northstar's shoulder.  
  
"Very well your Highness... When can I expect to see you next?"  
  
"Quite possably tomorrow... Though it will be Northstar attending me rather than Mysteria.. After all she is the firstborn princess." Alaric opened his mouth to say something else, but Thrax, who had been quiet till this point, had to speak up.  
  
"Hold up now!" He rubbed his forehead with his right hand and gestured at her with his left. "How in the hell... That's the second time I've heard you called a Princess... I thought that Horde Prime guy was just bein a wiseass before. Why didn't you tell me he wasn't jokein?" Thrax demanded, crossing his arms.  
  
"Well... you never asked."  
  
Okay that was quite possably the most obvious thing she could have possably said! Thrax groaned and burried his face in his hand. "I give up..." he sighed. "Let's go." Then he began to mumble to himself. "I never asked... sheesh!"  
  
Northstar giggled while her parents and sister just looked at his back as it left the room. "That's Thrax by the way. I'll tell you all about him too." With a few polite farewell gestures they left the bewildered humans to their own devices.  
  
Thrax had farther shocked them by useing his trenchcoat as a means of flight. "Hey Thrax... I got somethin for ya!" Northstar shouted and tossed something to him.  
  
"Whu.." He caught it. "Hey this is my bracelet... where did you...?"  
  
"Remember that week we stayed in Frank?"  
  
"That was months ago..."  
  
"Yeah... one and a half..."  
  
"Almost two..."  
  
"Whatever..."  
  
Thrax put away his bracelt. He was glad to have it back and a bit irate with Northstar for forgetting to give it back to him. Though he remembered what she was going through and figured it shouldn't surprise him that it slipped her mind.  
  
They landed on top of her front porch back North Carolina and Thrax followed them into the house. Her mother seated herself in an armchair, her sister went to the Kitchen and her father on the left hand side of the couch, near the arm chair. Thrax kept scilent and sat in a red rocker and, to his surprise, Northstar chose to sit on his knee.  
  
Skylight cocked her head to the side and Alaric narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Okay here's the short versian... Horde Prime used a combination of magic and technology to make me microscopic then he put me in the body of some Zookeeper. There I met Thrax, we made a pact and even though we're not technically bound to it anymore... He's still keeping his promise to help me deal with the Horde."  
  
"Apparently that's not all he's helping you with."  
  
"Dad... Don't start please."  
  
"Couldn't you find a consort of your own species."  
  
Thrax was getting the impression this guy didn't like him.  
  
"I tried that... twice... I refuse to restrict myself in my choices... in anything. C'mon Thrax... Let's step outside."  
  
As soon as they were out Northstar let out a long sigh. She had just gotten back... She'd been missing for nearly two months and already her father was starting in on it. She leaned against the gas tank in frustration.  
  
She was about to hit something in anger when she felt a clawed hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Thrax standing behind her and exhaled, leaning her head on his chest. "You okay baby?" Thrax wanted to know.  
  
"Yeah... just a little peeved. Dad can be such a jerk sometimes."  
  
"Eh... I hardly remember mine... Haven't seen either of them since I was like sixteen."  
  
"Did you run away?"  
  
"Not really... Most viruses leave home pretty young." He helped her sit up on the gas tank and leaned against it.  
  
"I see... Did you ever have any relationships before me?"  
  
"Eh... a few. A lot of em lasted too long really, but they didn't end too bad either. Some of them were pretty on going. What about you?"  
  
"One human... and two Unarie..."  
  
"That's all? And you're twenty-three?"  
  
"Yeah... never been big on relationships... I've always either been too busy or too nervous to get into one."  
  
"Mind telling me about them?"  
  
"Well the first was with a human... we kinda fell apart, but we're still friends... Flash not only had a lame name, but he was a real creap..." she trailed off. "Thunder... well.." she sighed. "He died... because of me." She looked at the ground and bit her lip.  
  
"Because of you?"  
  
"I was sick..." She wasn't looking at him so she didn't see Thrax wince. "The nearest translation of the Escora virus is the summer death. It makes the body more prone to hot tempratures and hyperthermia. (opposet of hypothermia) Anyway... Horde Prime chose the point I was weakest to ambush and kill him purely to hurt me. If I'd been able to get out of bed I could have helped him..."  
  
"He probably would still have died.. and you probably would have been captured." He remembered her telling him that Horde Prime wanted her alive.  
  
"I suspect he was the one who got me infected in the first place... probably laced a feild where I grazed or got it in a wound during a battle or something. It incubates before it attacks so you're not ready for it..."  
  
"Does it bother you that I'm a virus?"  
  
"Not anymore... not really." she pushed an unruly lock of hair behind her ear. "To be honest I'm afraid of the same thing happening to you... I don't want to lose you."  
  
"Don't worry baby... I can take care of myself and you've seen me fight Horde Prime... I can hold my own against him."  
  
"Would you like to read some of my medical texts?" she said, changeing the subject suddenly. "I'm sure you're in there. I know I've contended with your species a time or two."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yeah... you know you're hard to cure... Level four... highly contagious... I make a study of illnesses actually, but as a healer, my forte is wound- care, surgery, that sort of thing."  
  
Thrax chuckled. She was something else. She exhaled slowly and looked up at the evening sky. The stars were begining to come out and the moon was in it's full phaze. Just then her eyes closed in pain and she slid from the tank. He caught her and gently eased her to the ground.  
  
It took a while for the pain to pass. To help her muscles relax Thrax gently massaged her abdomen. He could tell it had gone when her breatheing regulated and she slumped against him. She looked at him for an eternity that ended up only being about four seconds. "Northstar..." Thrax finally said.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I..." he whispered... "I.. love you..."  
  
Northstar's eyes widened and she sucked in her breath sharply. He'd never told her that before. Her responce was to wrap her arms around his waist and kiss him deeply. He returned it, slipping his tounge into her mouth. A single, happy tear slid down her face and dripped onto his turtleneck.  
  
Finally they broke off and Northstar nuzzled into his neck, smileing. "I love you too Thrax." Thrax smiled one of his rare gentle smiles and picked her up.  
  
"Care for a moonlight strole?"  
  
She nodded and stood up. Thrax was apparently adjusting to her world far better than she had adjusted to his. 


	5. A battle and a new power

Kinda sappy I know... not as bad as the last one though I don't think. ^^ Hehehe.. They're getting better. ^^  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Yet another month later...  
  
Northstar and Thrax were rideing side by side. She was on a white winged horse by the name of Mystic and Thrax was on the back of a black and tan stallion by the name of Firewind.  
  
She was amazed at how quickly he'd learned to ride. It took him less than a week to learn the basic movements and advance to the next level and now he was as skilled as her. Obviously being a fast learner had been a necessity in his life.  
  
They lept over a ravine, both horses spreading their wings to catch the air thermals to glide accross. When all four of her hoofs connected with the ground she reared up and flapped her wings. Northstar held on with one hand as she held a fist in the air, letting out a playful battle cry. Thrax chuckled and trotted Firewend toward them.  
  
"You're somethin else you know that?"  
  
"Yeah well I..." She stopped abruptly and drew her sword.  
  
"Horde Prime?"  
  
"Horde Prime..."  
  
Thrax's left forefinger glowed bright and they both prepared to dismount. Horde Prime rode up to them on the back of a galloping black flame stallion. Each step of it's hoofs kicked up soot and embers. It was a strange hybred of Nightmare, Darkdrake and the natural enemies of Unari known as wolits.  
  
He pulled his smokeing mount to a stop just before them. Acid dripped from it's mouth and it's hollow eyes gleamed deep blue. It's torn batlike wings flapped maliciously and smoke rose from it's nostrals and mouth. "Greetings Northstar... we meet again dear princess... It's been a long time since I approched you on Magma's back..."  
  
Magma opened his mouth and blue flame spurted out his mouth toward them. Thrax backhanded the ball of fire just before it got to Northstar. It slammed into a boulder, turning it into a molten, smoldering heap. Thrax never had been effected by fire, aparently magical flames were no exception.  
  
Horde Prime drew a flameing whip and galloped toward the two. Northstar was ahead of Thrax on this one and held her sword high as he charged her. When they passed each other half of the firewhip fell to the ground, it's flames immediately extinguishing.  
  
Bringing his mount back a few steps Hord Prime grinned and disgarded the useless whip handle. "Take them..." He ordered, "Bring the virus and the girl to me... I don't care about the baby or the horses!"  
  
"Why don't I like the sound of that..."  
  
"Because it's reallybad!" She pulled Mystic to a rear, "Let's go!"  
  
From behind their master a number of robotic creatures that were beyond count marched forth. They were both reptilian and equestrian in appearance and had obviously been created to both mock and fight the Unarie. Their bodies had dragonlike wings and from their shoulders toward their haunches their legs went from being horselike to lizardlike.  
  
Their tails were long and serpintine and there were long evil-looking scythe blades on their tips. Their eyes were all red, with spiked ridges along their necks. The back legs had savage looking talons and the forlegs had what looked like deformed lion's paws under them. Their Horns were twisted and mallformed and there were spikes stuck out at odd angles. Horde Prime may have designed them with both Dragon and Unicorn features, but it was obvious that they posessed none of the true characteristics of the wise Dragons or gentle Unicorns.  
  
The rode quickly away from the onslaught. It looked like an entire army of the creatures were after them and it didn't help that some smaller animals that resembled a gross combination of a mangy coyote and a rabid sewer rat... Then again that coyote could also be werewolf...  
  
"What are they?!" Thrax asked frantically. If only they could get the upper hand, but they were severely outnumbered.  
  
"The robots are called Alinoids... They have three variations of their forms... Kinda like those Transformers I always watch."  
  
"And the rat things?"  
  
"Wolits... natural enemies of Unicorns... Watch their tallons!" She punched one of them into a tree. "They contain a poison that not even the oldest Alicorn can neutralize... It's designed specifically for us."  
  
Thrax wasn't entirely clear on everything she'd said, but what he did understand was that these creatures were dangerous. His longest tallon glowed orange and passed through the shoulder of one of the Alinoids, nearly severing it's leg. Northstar's eyes widened surprise that it could melt through metal.  
  
Northstar and Mystic neighed as one and took flight, Thrax following close behind. The wolits lept high into the air after them as the Alinoids went after them. Wolits couldn't fly, but they could jump very high to allow them to take down a Unicorn as it was takeing off. They felt their sharp claws brush their legs as the wind caught the wings of their mounts.  
  
"Thrax!" Northstar called. "When I leap from Mystic you leap from Firewind towards me!" Thrax opened his mouth to ask why, but she cut him off. "Just do it! When you do clasp your dominate hand to mine!"  
  
"My what?!"  
  
"My right hand... your left!"  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"Now!"  
  
Letting out a battle cry Northstar placed her feet on Mystic's haunches, who bucked. She used the force to help gain momentum in her leap toward's Thrax, who followed suit. As they came to each other They clasped hands as she'd said.  
  
Northstar still had her sword in her left hand and shoved it into Thrax's right so that they both held onto it. "Fire and Ice.." she murmered. "Element's twain come two times twice... Dispatch our foes with Fire and ice!"  
  
She pushed the blade aloft over their heads, were it took on a bright golden glow and then pointed it at their enemies. A bright beam of light shot from the tip of the blade and towards the onslaught of Alinoids approching them. It took out several of them at once, but most of them easily avoided it  
  
They were still comeing, but together they lifted the sword skyward again. Just then two pillars of light surrounded them, begining at their feet and stopping above the tip of the sword. One a bright, whitish blue, the other bright red. The blue one broke off breifly to encircle around her raised arm alone and the red one the same with Thrax, returing together again at the hilt of the sword. They were made of fire and ice.  
  
The light grew brigther and their upper bodies leaned away from each other as if motivated by an unseen force and their eyes closed. The light became blindingly bright, narrow beams of light rushed at the Alinoids, shorting out their optic sensors and stunning them temporarily.  
  
The stone at the base of the blade glowed white and they flew off to a gathering of stones not far away, but well hidden. To the Alinoids it looked as if they had completely vanished. "Blast them!" Horde Prime roared as he bashed one of his warriors into a thousand peices. "I'll get them next time... Return!" With that they all dissapeared in a flash of white and green, Hord Prime fully intending to vent his temper on anyone foolish enought to get too close.  
  
At the stones...  
  
The pillar's dissapated and the sword lost it's glow. Northstar, who had been primarily focussing the sword's energies, collapsed to the ground. Thrax, who was also feeling a bit drained, knelt beside her and lifted her head in worry.  
  
Her eyes opened for a moment and her hand weakly lifted to touch his chin then fell back down to her side. Her human form melted halfway to her natural one and her head fell against his chest. She was asleep.  
  
Thrax sat down and pulled her against him, gently caressing her face. She was alright, she just needed to rest and get her energy back. He kept a close watch on her and at every sound he was ready to leap out to attack the Horde, but they never came.  
  
Thrax woke when he felt her stir. He had laied by her on the ground and wrapped her in his trenchcoat and lifted his upper body to allow her to sit up. Northstar breathed a deep sigh and leaned her head on his chest. She had regained her strength, but was still emotionally tired.  
  
"What the heck was that?" Thrax finally asked.  
  
"Hm?... Oh..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "The sword has a good deal of defencive powers, but all of them are tricky to use. A lot need a partner... Like that one. It needed two elements, prefferably opposet."  
  
"Like us?"  
  
"Aye." She nodded.  
  
"Fire and ice..."  
  
"Water actually... But ice is basically frozen water anyway."  
  
She sat up and cracked her back.  
  
"What now baby?"  
  
"Let's go to my pool. We need to stratigize and the best place to do it is there."  
  
"Your pool?" Somehow he imagined tile and chlorine.  
  
"You'll see."  
  
She smiled slyly and took hold of his hand, pulling him northeast. After walking for less than a minute she broke into a playful run. Thrax chuckled and ran after her. She certianly seemed happier in her own world, and it showed clearly in the way she ran through the trees.  
  
She easily avoided any roots, stones or trenches in her path without looking. She lept over a branch, onto a tree trunk, flipped over it and landed on the ground, running faster. Thrax picked up his pace as well to keep up with her just as easily. He enjoyed simply watching her in her own world and he didn't just mean the multicellular world. She belonged in the forest. She was part of it.  
  
They passed through a small herd of her kind and as they caught sight of her their horns bent toward the ground and their wings spread in greeting. They would stand back up once Thrax passed them. Clearly they knew that he was her consort and would respect him as such.  
  
Northstar climbed onto a boulder and slid down the other side. Thrax simply jumped down from it. Smiling she led him through some thick hedges and bushes. What he saw amazed him. The water was crystal clear and all life around it was thriveing. He remembered Northstar once explaining to him that her alicorn could purify even the filthiest water and giveing it healing properties. Apparently this is the result of this happening repeatedly in one water source.  
  
She knelt down and filled a cup with the sparkleing water and handed it out to him. But he refused, backing away with his hands in the air.  
  
"What if it's like the alcohol?"  
  
"Well... I do use it for clenseing wounds." She admitted. "But it won't hurt you."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I don't want it to."  
  
Still skeptical, but trusting Northstar, he put the cup to his lips and let a small sip pass them. He felt a warm heat immediately spread from his lips to the rest of his body. He blinked twice and looked at Northstar, who smiled and pushed the cup to him again. Curiously he drank the rest of it, ejoying a more intense sensation than before.  
  
He handed her back the cup and she placed it back in her bag then she hugged him and took his right hand with hers, placeing her left on his chest.  
  
"Hold your hand out like this." She streatched her hand as if she were allowing birds to eat seed from it.  
  
Thrax did so.  
  
"Now... concentrate."  
  
There was a soft golden glow that transfired from her to himself. When it reached his outstreatched left hand it became a soft red. Thrax started the heat in his claw and in an instant he found a deliciously hot ball of fire in his hand. He stared at it for a moment then turned to Northstar and smiled at her for his gift.  
  
"I didn't give you anything you didn't already have Thrax." She smiled. "I just opened up some potential that probably never would have surfaced otherwise."  
  
"In any case... Thanks baby."  
  
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him, pushing his lips against hers. He heard a soft sigh escape her lips as she returned it. Smiling he placed his hand behind her head and she nuzzled into his neck. 


	6. Space out!

Chapter 6

Thrax ended up becomeing one of the warriors in a group under her command known as the Guardians. It was made up of members of her own species, a few humans and some aliens and mutants. It was a small group, very small Only about ten or so and it was a subdevision of her father's army, which was also dwindleing by war.

He served beside her, leading with her, and takeing orders from noone, not her, not her father, not even her mother. Because of this Alaric didn't like him very much, but Skylight, Northstar's mother, wouldn't let him forbid her to see him.

They spent a great deal of time in meetings with the president and Thrax was begining to concider him a lot like the mayors in the bodies he'd invaded. Noone but Northstar knew that he was a deadly virus, and that he was quite cappable of killing with little or no remorse, he just held himself in check for Northstar's sake.

During meetings Thrax would freaquently walk out or melt a paperweight or something to ease the bordom that he was being tortured with. Northstar lead him out of the oval office after a particularly frustrateing one. She hated them herself and concidered them trivial and pointless. Obligation to obey her father was the only thing that forced her to go. They both needed a break after all of this.

Taking up their mounts they rode through the city. Thrax was never one to be fond of the hussle and bussle of the big city. He prefired haveing small company around. It was a short trip, they spent most of the day rideing around town and Northstar picked up a few things from a Radio Shack.

"Baby did you really need that thing?"

"What? It's cool..."

"It's a little toy baby dragon thing that has little blinking lights for fire and giggles..."

"He's cute!"

"Yeah baby... whatever" Thrax smirked. He really didn't feel like an arguement.

Northstar giggled and mounted up on Mystic. The winged horse was always happy to see her rider, but there were times when she didn't understand her. They took flight and landed in a park downtown near the water. There Northstar dismounted and knelt by the water. She dipped a hand in and lifted up to sniff at it. She frowned.

"No..." she muttered standing up

"What is it baby..."

"Something's not right..."

Thrax only looked at her.  
  
"The water's calm... but feel the air..." She looked out over the water and stepped onto the dock. The breeze blew her hair back. "Hmmm... The clouds are dark... but there's no rain... not even thunder.. I don't like the omens... Not at all.."

"Baby, that's just supersition."

"Perhaps to you." she snapped, eyes flashing breifly, "But I pay attention to them." She glared out over the ocean again.

"Think there's gonna be trouble?"

"Why do you think I was talking about omens?"

"So... what do you suppose we do?"

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm not about to stand back and see what happens... I'm going to find out for myself." she took a deep breath, "We're going to Etheria to find out.."

"Your homeworld? How might I ask?"

"I have a ship... She's not the best mind you, but she'll get us there.."

"What ship?"

"I call her the Starblazer... She can jump a warp gate with the best of them and get us there in a day or so."

"Where is this ship?"

"We'll have to go to the country.. it's in an old bunker where my old base used to be."  
  
"Sure thing." He mounted up, "Lead the way baby."

Northstar smirked and hopped up on Mystic's back, then with a snap of the reins they took to the air. Landing in front of her home, the two winged horses took off in a gallop around back. Thrax looked at her quizically, wondering why they hadn't stopped at her home.

She stopped about a mile from the property line and pressed a button on a keychain. From out of nowhere a platform rose, bringing with it an impressive ship attatched by hooks to the top of it. It had dragonshaped wings, a ridge at the top and came down in sort of a diamond shape and at the front near the cockpit it had sharp, streight lines and a slender 'v' at the bottom. It was designed for stealth, sturdiness and manuverability.

"Whoa baby..." Thrax said in awe.

There was a symbol on the hull of the ship. A Unicorn's head and neck with a single wing held streight up and flowing back, beneith it were two crossed swords clashed in battle. One representing dark, the other light. Northstar drew her sword and held it up toward the hull of the ship. Seems formed about three feet apart from each other, up about eight on the side of the hull. A door opened from the bottom and a 3 foot wide platform extended from the base of the opening.

"After you..." Northstar grinned, holding her hands toward the ship and bowing playfully.

Thrax, not being one for too many words, scooped her up and carried her over the threshhold. Once within the ship he blinked. It was unusually dark for what he expected of her. There were several rooms, 3 bedrooms, (the ship was designed for a very small crew if any) one bathroom and a single very small rec room. The bulk of the ship's space was taken up by the huge cargo bay at the aft of the ship and the control room at the bow.

One of the ships three small bedrooms were being used to store supplies, the other had been modifided, apparently since her last mission, to be used as makeshift stables. Looking behind him the virus noticed Mystic and Firewind entering the ship and headed toward that one.

"The largest of them are my sleeping quarters. My bed isn't large but it will accomodate the two of us." The Unarie woman smiled at him. Thrax smiled back.

"So how many people do you typically have on this thing?"

"She can hold a crew of up to five... All of the rooms have multiple beds, mine simply have them hidden in the walls. I normally only have one other person with me.." she smiled "And of course Mystic. Each room has a shower."

"Hey wanna save water baby?" He had this naughty little grin on his face.

She chuckled. "Save it love.. We've got a mission to complete.."

"Okay now that's the thing baby... What the heck is our mission?!" Thrax crossed his arms. He was not a very patient virus.

"Okay... Horde Prime must have used some sort of device to send me to the microscopic world before... I'm certian he ment to leave me there..."

She headed into the control room. To Thrax's surprsie, the very thing the control room lacked... were controls! There was a control panel but only a few buttons and dials. The main portion of it was made up of what was essentially a black, shiny mat with a few reddish circles in the middle of it.

Northstar seemed to sense his question because she walked up and squeezed his hand.

"It's controled by touch my love." she told him, snuggleing up to his arm. "I put my hands or hoovs on it and steer that way.. Of course it can be converted to a more conventional control system... but I intend to give you access."

Thrax nodded.

"Anyway..." she walked over to it and flicked a few switches above her and sat in a chair, strapping down, Thrax following suit. "We have to find and destroy it before he does any more damage to the microscopic world... and destroy the device completely." She hadn't looked up from her task even as she pressed her hands on the mat, her fingers outlined in red by it. "... Along with any info reguarding it... We can't give him a chance to fix it or to rebuild it!"

Thrax felt the ship being unhooked by the giant platform as they hovered and in a moment they were taking off toward the sky. He didn't dare speak or removehis seatbelt unitll they left the atmosphere of the planet and all he could see before them through the clear reinforced polysubstance of the cockpit were bright white dots against the black horizon that was space.

After a few tense moments Northstar finally unstrapped herself and sighed, leaning back in the chair, hands still on the panel. Thrax undid his own seatbelt and walked over to her, placeing his claws on her shoulders.

"It's beautiful isn't it baby?"

She nodded, "It almost makes me forget..." She removed one of her hands from the panel and covered his with it. Thrax began to gently massage her.

"Hey baby does this thing have Autopilot?"

"Just a sec love... Lemme program it."

Dissentangling herself from him she returned both hands to the control panel and set in their course. Then she leaned against the chair again, both hands in her lap. "There.." she murmered, tiredly.

Hearing that Thrax walked around to her, bent down and kissed her tenderly. Northstar let her hands snake up and around his shoulders as he held her tightly. The true stress of what they were soon to undergo hit her and she stood, pressing against him and letting her tears flow.

"Hey baby what is it?" Thrax looked at her concerned and brushed a couple stray strands of her hair out of her face.

His queary was met with only scilence and a tender kiss from her. He started to speak again, but she put two fingers on his lips and shushed him gently. Exhaleing he held her close to him as her hands slid around him, under his open blackish red trenchcoat. She kissed him again, more sweetly this time. Thrax could feel her relax through her lips.

She smiled again and took his hand, whispering, softly, "Unless somthing happens, I won't need to check the autopilot for another sixteen hours..." She then led him to her sleeping quarters, a glint in the corner of her eye..

The inside of it was very simple. There was a bed between the sizes of twin and queen, but it was about as long as a king. The frame and headboard were made of wood and there was a small night table with a cronometer and a lamp attatched to it. All of the furnature was bolted or welded down. In another corner there was a medium sized desk with a thin computer moniter on it, along with a few nick nacks here and there.

On the night table a framed picture caught Thrax's eye. He picked it up and looked at it for a moment. It was one of Northstar in human form and another man. He was standing behind her hugging her around the torso and pinning her arms to her sides, Northstar was smileing and looking at him with bright eyes while her hands clutched his arms. He was kissing her cheek. She looked to be only about sixteen or seventeen, and the male looked much older.

"I didn't know I still had that here..." Northstar walked over and took hold of the picture.

"Who's that?" he wanted to know..  
  
"That's Thunder..." she said solomly. The memory still saddened her. She took the picture from him and sat on the bed. "So many memories..."

"You guys were crazy about each other wern't you?"

She nodded. "Yes... we were.." then she smiled at him, though a bit of pain at the memory of her dead lover showed deep in her eyes. "But I'm also crazy about you Thrax.. I love you."

Thrax smiled back at her kindly then sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her, "I love you too baby." He kissed her as she put the frame away.

Northstar sighed and lay back on the bed, sliding slightly onto her left side. Thrax, curled up beside her and caressed her cheek. They lay like that for a long time, cuddleing, occasionally kissing. When Northstar shivered with cold he pulled the sheet and blankets over them, removing his trenchcoat and laying it over the top.

The tension that was once thick in the air ebbed and faded as Northstar pressed up against him. They held each other until she felt those claws that would never harm her, begin to slip under her clothes.

Exhaleing she felt his talons gently flick over her breasts and she let her entire body relax. He simply slid his hands down to her skirt, pushing it down gently with his hands. He started to remove her undergarmets as well, but held back, not wanting to intimidate her. He looked into her eyes, asking her if she wanted this. In responce she untucked his grey turtle neck, removed it and tossed it to the floor beside the bed.

Thrax grinned gently and took hold of her shirt and slid it over her head and removed her bra, carefully undoing the delicate snaps with his sharp claws. Northstar smiled at him, caressing his bare chest with her hands, wrenching a pleasent shudder from the virus.

Bending his head down he wrapped his slender tounge around a nipple, gently flicking the tip over it. Gasping the female beneath him arched up slightly as he took it completely into his mouth, sucking gently, then sliding it out of his mouth then leaning down to kiss her deepy.

Her tounge slid out of her mouth to meet his as they took turns kicking off each others boots. Giggleing Northstar fought under the covers to get them off of the bed. After a few minutes they both heard about three or four 'plop's as the boots finally fell to the floor. Coming up under the covers she took one look at Thrax's expresion and broke down in laughter.

They held each other like that for a while, laughing heartily before it turned back over to passion. Thrax pushed his hand gently into her panties, feeling her instingtively open her thighs. Gently, carefully he slid a couple fingers into her, wrenching a gasp from her. After thrusting them in and out of her for a few seconds he pulled them out and licked his tallons, then pressed them to her lips, allowing her to taste herself.

She looked up into his face. She had a sweet, tender expression and her cheeks had become a cute shade of pink. He studied her expression for a moment, breifly gazeing at her arousal-reddened lips before claiming them with his own. She kissed him back passionately, feeling him inflicting a diffrent sort of fever over her.

Out of instingt Thrax let out a deep viral growl as he kissed her, sliding his hands gently, but firmly down her sides, then he looked up suddenly at her face, worried that he'd alarmed her. To his releif her expression wasn't one of fear but of surprise and amusement. Chuckleing he returned to kissing her, continueing to growl gently.

Northstar exhaled softly, arching up toward him and feeling him rid her of her last shred of clothing, the white cotton panties slideing past her ankles, she kicked them to the side breifly as the virus undid his pants, slid them down with his boxers and did the same to her.

He lay on top of her, letting his teeth gently scrape against her nipples as he gently bit and kissed her breasts. She slid her hand around the back of his head, running her fingers through his dreadlocks as his hand found her womanhood once more. Beneath him she let out a low whimper, her inner muscles twitching around his gently thrusting claws.

Slowly pulling them out his fingers found the little nubin above her entrance and stroked it. Northstar gasped sharply and arched up, grinding her hips against his hand. She clenched her teeth and sucked in sharply in pleasure, letting it wash over her in waves.

Leaning up she tilted his head back and began kissing him deeply as he positioned himself between her thighs, sliding his tounge in and out of her mouth in a demonstration of what was to come. Smiling at her he propped her up on top of the rest of the pillows and pressed her back against the headboard. He also put a pillow behind her lower back to ease the strain caused by her pregnancy. Then he slowly entered her. Northstar gasped in pleasure as she felt Thrax exhale into her neck, submitting herself willingly to him as his hand reached behind her and gently scraped her back.

At first his movements were slow and gentle, but after a while he sped up a little, each thrust of his hips makeing her moan louder. Thrax hissed into her ear as Northstar slid her arms around him and clutched his bottom, digging her nails into his skin. He felt her hands working up his back to clutch at his shoulders as she spread her legs wider for him.

Not allowing his pace to faulter Thrax drew back to lick at her breasts, gently cupping one in his claws and teaseing at the nipple. Northstar arched up, tightening her grip on his shoulders and lightly caressing his lower back with her fingers. The virus above her shuddered at the featherlight touch.

Thrax held still inside her for a moment, laying light kisses on her cheek as she nipped at his neck and throat. He pushed slowly deeper as Northstar laied butterfly kisses down his throat then pulled out a few inches, just as slow. Northstar gasped, her yerning burning within her as strong as the flame of his claw.

He started moving again, sliding in and out of her. Her breath came in short gasps as his own in low growls and moans. Letting out a soft hiss Thrax climaxed, spilling into her and triggering her own. Feeling her spasm around him he held her tighter, the tips of his talons almost peircing her flesh.

She trembled for a few moments then went limp, snuggling close to him. Thrax smiled and placed a clawed hand behind her head, gently combing her hair with them. He kissed her forehead and tilted her face up to look into her eyes.

They needed no words to express their emotions and they scilently embraced. Northstar returned his smile, a deeper one in her tear filled eyes. Thrax looked at her concerned and wiped one of them away, but before he could ask her what was wrong she kissed his lips and snuggled.

Touched, Thrax realized that she was crying happy tears. Now those he could stand to see. Feeling a few welling up in his own eyes, though not allowing them to fall he laied his head on top of hers and snuggled with her under the covers, forceing himself to stay awake until he saw her chest riseing and falling at a regular pace and allowed himself to fall asleep after her.


	7. Freak outs and getting to know the crew

Hey yall. Finally updating this sucker! hehehe. I figured I'd end the story here, but don't worry there is a sequal underway with some new characters and featuring the ones I made in this one. Technically this is a She ra crossover cause of horde prime and Etheria, but hey... giggle Questions comments? flames? All welcome. Though flames'll be thrown into the abyss... booh yah! hehe. Please excuse me if this chapter sucks. I think I got a good 'stopping place' to end it. I'll have the first chapter of my sequel up asap as soon as I've written enough of it and I've got a decent title for it. Any suggesstions on what to call her group rather than guardians or suggestions on titles for a sequel are welcome and you will be given credit for it... toodles.

Chapter7

When they awoke it wasn't a gentle awareness of being in each other's arms... There was an alarm going off. Northstar was up like a shot, donning her armor only as she sped to the control room. Thrax, having followed her after getting dressed, found her at the control panel, useing that shiny black mat.

"What happened?!" Thrax demanded

"We've hid a meteor shower... Sit tight love it's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Thrax sat down at an unoccupied chair and strapped himself in, prepareing himself for some major turbulence... He was not dissapointed. He didn't see how she could stay on her feet to steer, but she'd informed him that she could get through this mess a lot better if she could brace her feet on the floor.

Another alarm sounded as they took a nasty hit in a wing and he heard Northstar swear in her own language. He didn't have to ask if it was going to affect their landing. Once clear of the meteor shower Northstar stayed at the controls and pulled up a damage report, kicking herself for not staying at the helm in the first place.

He then heard a growl come from her. Their engines had been damaged and, while they could still get to Etheria, it would be slower than anticipated unless they could fix them. "Well no biggie... You're an engineer right baby?" Thrax asked her.

"I can do some minor repairs... But if the damage is too bad we're screwed.."

"Ok you mean it's just you and me and you didn't bring an engineer?"

"Well.."

"Oie.." Thrax rubbed his forehead. "You are really airheaded somtimes you know that?"

Northstar glared at him.  
  
"Look there's no time to argue.. Just bring up the damn schematics and let's see what we can do."

Northstar snorted but did as he told her, bringing up the damage report as well. It didn't look good. Somone was going to have to go topside. Thrax looked at her as if to ask if she could repair it. The grim look she gave him answered his question. Nodding He printed out a copy of the ship schematics and went for an envirosuit.

"Thrax you're not going out there are you?" Northstar asked, horrified.

"Somone's got to go out there and somone has to watch the moniters while the other works... You know these instruments better than I do which means you have to watch them."

Northstar frowned. "You dont know the circutry or components or anything! How are you gonna repair it?"

"Heh.. I have this don't I baby?" he held up the schematics, "Don't worry." he kissed her forehead then put on the envirosuit's helmet before she could protest farther.

Immediately she went to the moniters, occasionally warning him of some space debris that floated too close. Using the schematics as a guide Thrax attempted to fix the damage done to the ship's engine. True he didn't know much about it, but if there was anything that viruses were famous for it was ability to adapt to new situations. It had allowed him to adjust to the multicellular world and hopefully it would allow him to fix this blasted engine.

Northstar was tense. Thrax had nothing but that envirosuit to protect him out there. Sheilds were down on her ship. Thrax managed to McGuyver a few repairs using the schematics and some spare parts. He wasn't sure how long it would hold up but it was somthing. Carefully he made his way back to the hatch, feeling nausious in this weightless environment. Then he saw it amongst the endless mass of stars surrounding them. Several ships gleeming in the distance.

"Yo baby... You see what I'm seein?" he radioed.

"Yeah... get in fast! I recodnize those ships and they're not rescue!"

Thrax frowned and headed inside as quickly as possable. As soon as the hatch was secure and the chamber filled with air he threw off the helmet and raced to the control room.

"Take weapons! You'll have to figure them out.... You figured out the engines well enough."

"Yeah well baby we ain't out of the woods yet... We've still gotta fire them up."

"Right.." She switched on the engines. They fired up then the damaged one sputtered and flickered out, "C'mon baby work for mama..."

Thrax looked at her funny as he took weaons.

"Before you say it shut up!" she returned to the control panel as Thrax powered up weapons. "C'mon work darn you!" She slapped the control pannel and flicked the switches quickly. "It's not working!" she moaned.

"Just go!" Thrax fiddled around with weapons until he figured them out, blasting the hull of an incoming ship with the Horde's emblem blazed on either wing.

Northstar diverted as much power as she could spare to the engines, cursing the pace that the one working engine forced them to remain at. They sputtered and protested but went online. Manuverability was limited but there was no other choice but to try to weave between and around the oncoming fighters.

Northstar heard an enthused "YEEEHAW!!" from Thrax as he blew up a ship that was formerly on a colision course with them. She sighed and shook her head. At least one of them was having fun.. Thrax was doing what he did best, namely blowing stuff up, while she was stuck struggling with the engines. She kicked herself for not bringing an engineer.

A planet came into view and Northstar positioned the ship and aimed for the atmosphere. There were at least 3 fighters still hot on their tail and only one of thethe rear guns had been spared by the meteor shower, the remaining one was shot from the hull by one of the Horde's gunners.

"Brace yourself!" Northstar warned. "It's about to get really really bumpy!" she paused, "And possably a bit hot as well.. I can't tell if the coolent system was damaged and we're about to hit the atmosphere in three... two...one."

As if on her mark the ship gave a suden disconcerting lurch and both were shoved violently forward then back as the ship struggled to stedy it'self. Thankfully they were strapped in. Northstar struggled to keep her hands on the control pad, cursing the obvious disadvantage to this method of control.

Below them the clouds burst apart and they were able to make out a forest and mountian range. It was somwhat similar to Earth, with some obvious diffrences like color of the plants and wildlife seen below. There was no time to enjoy the view, however. There were still fighters on their tail and Thrax had no idea if this ship was built to manuver in an atmosphere.

He looked to Northstar who suddenly had an odd sort of grin on her face. She pulled a few switches and shoved a lever to the up position. Secondary engines, designed for atmospheric travel kicked in and Northstar returned to navagation.

They had to navagate around trees and rock formations in order to lose them, the ship getting pretty well banged up in the process. Finally they found a safe place to land. Northstar warned Thrax to make sure his seatbelt was tight as she deployed the landing gear.

There was a flaw in her plan however, that flaw being that the landing gear would not deploy! "Brace yourself! We're in for a really rough landing!" Thrax nodded and held on tight, bracing his back against the seat. Northstar did the same and brought the nose up.

Both of them felt an intense vibration in the seat and soles of their feet as the ship colided hard with the planet below. It scraped along the ground, the hull being ripped up and wings breaking off. "C'mon keep it together..." She urged the ship as it continued to skid.

Finally after the thirty second eternity it stopped completely, steam and smoke rising from various parts of the ship. Immediately Northstar threw off her restraints and ran to the makeshift stables in one of the bedrooms, finding to her relief that it was perfactly intact and the horses were rattled and scared, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

Sighing in relief she approched Mystic and took hold of her halter, pulling her down to pet her neck. "Shhh.." She soothed, "we're safe now." She was about to consol the other when Thrax walked in calmly and scilently stroked Firewind's neck.

They led them out of the stables. "Ok... Northstar.." Mystic snapped at her rider in an animal language. "Next time you're gonna fly a ship try not to land it as though you had taken a 'crash course' if you know what I mean.."

Northstar laughed then the alarms began. She frowned. The engines were apparently going critical and they had only a limited ammount of time before they blew. Not thinking, not having time to both mounted up on their respective steeds and were down the loading ramp as fast as possable. Upon hitting the dirt both Mystic and firewind took flight. Shards of glass, slag and metal flew by them as they narrowly avoided the brunt of the explosion.

Thrax and Mystic both let out yelps as they felt hot shrapnel cut into their bodies. Mystic's haunches were hit, as was Thrax's left shoulder. They found a clear place to land and did so.

The first wounds Northstar cared for were Mystic's. After all She could easily get an infection and Thrax, as a virus, probably could not. Fortunatly for the winged horse the shards were not in too deep and they were easy to remove. Thrax, however was not so lucky.

When she had him strip of his bloody coat and turtleneck she saw that he had but one peice of shrapnel in him, but it was in deep, possably to the viruses 'shoulderblade' or equivilent thereof.

"It's a pretty deep wound love.." She told him, "I'm going to have to.." she paused, holding her abdomen.

"Baby?" Thrax, worried, rushed to her and held her by the shoulders.

"No I'm fine I..." She closed her eyes again.

Thrax put his hand on her abdomen and felt how tight her muscles had become. She was only about eight months along and it seemed as though she might go into labor. Not good... Two months eairly.

"Listen Northstar you have to calm down.." He warned, taking her face and he rubbed her abdomen until the muscles relaxed and she got out of the danger zone.

After a few minutes she went to work on his shoulder, cleaning it with water and using one of her own hairs to sew it together. It would probably scar, but the priority now was to get it taken care of. Once sewn Thrax replaced his turtleneck and they continued on foot, well Thrax did. He insisted that Northstar ride firewind as he led. She wasn't entirely happy about it but she complied.

At length they reached a large building that strongly resembled an air force base. It was her primary base of operations and Thrax quickly learned that here it was not primarily humans and her own kind that served under her here. Here was the main assault group, larger than the few she commanded on Earth, but still small. Rico, her weapon's expert, demolitions specialist and cheif of security rolled into one, (she had yet to find another security cheif suitable for the job) was the first to greet them and his first reaction to Thrax was not a pleasent one.

Since coming back to the multicellular world she had had very minimal contact with her primary headquarters on Etheria and Thrax had not been part of the update. Rico was an ex space pirate one of the many Universal 'strays' as they so affectionately nicknamed themselves, that she had picked up here and there. Rico was from a planet called Felanax, an anthro world comprised mainly of Catlike creatures. The first thing he did was pounce on Thrax in a quadrapedal form much like a cougar and bare his fangs at the unsuspecting virus.

Thrax's first reaction was one of surprise as the Felanian's paw's struck his chest, then pain from the wound on his shoulder hitting the ground, then finally rage at being threatened by the cat. He lit up his claw and was about to strike the offending creature when Northstar grabbed his wrist. Both parties looked up at her in surprise when she did that and just as suddenly as she grabbed his wrist she released it.

"Get off him Rico.." she warned.

After a moment of being browbeaten the cat got off him.

"Whoa whoa waaaait a minute baby.." Thrax demanded, "You know this... thing?"

Rico snarled at him and Northstar once more held up a hand. "Rico transform..."

The addressed growled but obeyed, becoming a very catlike biped with a tail and sharp claws on the end of his fingers.

"Rico this is Thrax... my consort."

"Whoa wait a minute Chica... you know this clown?" Rico demanded, mirroring Thrax's words.

"Yes Rico.." Northstar replied before Thrax could growl somthing at Rico, "I am also in love with him. I will explain everything at the breifing... My father had me in stupid meetings with the stupid president of the US.."

"Wastea'time if ya ask me Chica.. Ya couldn'ta radioed anythin?"

"First off a 'radio' wouldn't have reached all the way from Earth to Etheria, second of all it was too high risk with the low technology equipment we have available on the planet and the Horde could have easily intercepted any message..."

"Ah ok Chica... When's the breifin?"

"In one hour.. And Rico?"

"Yes'm?"  
  
"Don't call me Chica.."

"Yes'm." He sounded as serious as Bozo the clown at a state fair.

Northstar rolled her eyes and brought Thrax into the base. She got many hugs, salutes, smiles and generally shown by everyone that they were glad that during the months she had been on Earth and unable to contact them effectively or often she had not been killed. She explained the situation and most of all the device that had been used to send her to the microscopic world. It was imperative that it and any information pertaining to it be destroyed as soon as possable. She had wanted to before, but unfortunately her father had interfered. When would she learn that if she's going to defy him anyway she should just go the whole hog?

Thrax had settled into Northstar's quarters with her. He had never become a proper member on Earth and had to be properly initiated here. While on his way to a lounge for a cup of coffee he was stopped in his tracks by a shadow that was oddly in the air in front of him rather than in the hall. As the shadow reformed itself into a person Thrax thought at first that it was Horde Prime, but this figure had a pale black complexion, nearly touching into grey and his eyes were a chrimson red. He also did not look any friendlier.

"So.." he growled, flashing his white fangs deliberately. "You're the new guy eh?"

Thrax narrowed his golden eyes. This guy didn't like him and the feeling was quite mutual. "What's it to you punk?" He growled right back.

"I should introduce myself Thrax... I am Diablo.. Head of inteligence."  
  
Thrax almost commented on how he got that job when the creature interrupted him again.

"I want you to listen to me Virus and listen well... If you ever hurt her I will feed on you.."

"Feed?"

He flashed his fangs again. "You see I am a vampire... I am rather fond of blood... I'm curious as to how yours would taste. If you ever hurt her I will find that out."

"Dream on baby..that ain't happening.." Thrax found his words being cut from his throat as Diablo leaned in closer. His fireclaw came to life in warning.

"We shall see.." Diablo purred and licked the side of Thrax's neck.

Before the Virus could respond Diablo simply dissapeared, faded into the shadows and leaving Thrax with a cold chill for more than one reason. Just then Northstar walked up and put her hand on Thrax's shoulder. Already a tad freaked out the Virus jumped and turned toward her. She caught his wrist out of reflex.

"I see you've met Diablo.." she chuckled

"What is he?" Thrax demanded.

"A Vampire."

"Yeah baby I know that but what species."  
  
"I don't know. He won't tell anybody."

"And you trust him."  
  
"With my life.."

"What is he an ex or somthing?"

Northstar about died laughing. "H...hardly.." She managed.

"What's so funny."

"Let's just say I'm not his type ok." she giggled.

"What not a vampire?"

"No.. I'm female.."

For the first time in a long time... somthing made Thrax shut up.. and Northstar absolutely lost it, tears of mirth flowing down her cheeks.

"Ok ok haha.. That's right pick on the Virus.." Thrax' grumbled.

"C'mon baby." Northstar said, "I want you to meet somone very important to me."

She took his hand and Thrax looked at her confused but followed. She took himt to the hanger where a ship was arriving. Smiling brightly but with tears in her eyes Northstar watched as the hatched to the small craft opened wide. Moments later a little blond girl with pointed ears and pale skin appeared at the top of the boarding deck followed by an old human woman and two older males, whos species Thrax could not identify.

Upon spotting Northstar the child rushed to her, shouting "Mommie!!!" at the top of her lungs. The child looked to be about eight or nine, but Thrax would discover that she was about eleven. She was clinging to Northstar for dear life and she had a scar neatly along her left jaw. He looked at his beloved in surprise and was about to open his mouth when she beat him to it.

"I adopted her some years ago.." She explained as the girl hid her face in Northstar's chest. "She was on a slave transport on the way to a fate worse than death." Thrax winced. "This is Alisha... Ali honey this is Thrax. Don't be afraid of him now... he won't hurt you."

Thrax knelt down to her level so that he hopefully wouldn't be so intimidating. "Hello." he said gently.

"Hi.." Ali said timidly.

"I won't hurt you.." He soothed, extending his right hand to her gently. The child just cowered and hid behind Northstar.

"She's frightened of strangers." Northstar explained. "Especially male ones... I have to admit your colors are somthing she fears... red and black."

Thrax nodded, understanding and, though she clung to Northstar, picked the child up. He felt a bit akward. He'd never held a child before, let alone one that was scared to death of him. She looked at him with sad little puppy dog eyes and he swore she was acting much younger than she was. Most likely because of formerly being abused.

He smiled gently and touched her cheek with the back of a claw, taking care to move slowly to keep from frightening her. The child flinched so he drew back his hand. Nervously she pushed her hair back behind one of her pointed ears and keept looking at her surroget mother.

"I wont harm you.." He assured her. "I'm in love with your mother and baby I don't think it'll take much for me to love you too."

Ali looked to Northstar for confirmation and she nodded to her. She turned back to Thrax and nodded once. Smiling he put her back down. Still timid Ali leaned up, kissed his cheek then went back to Northstar and held her hand.

Thrax sighed for a moment then felt Northstar's arm wrap around his. He smiled at her and went the rest of the way into the lounge for his coffee. He had his coffee and Northstar had her tea as Ali played with a couple other children that had ventured into the lounge. He smiled at them, embracing this new world and perhaps soon to be family.

End


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